Good Words for "The List"
Dear Harvey,
I was reading The List just now after the opening night of my new ongoing class, and I wanted to tell you how excellent I think this volume is. I'm a pretty avid reader of RC literature; I started gobbling it up after I learned RC about ten years ago. The List seems to me to be a qualitative jump forward in our literature. It is thorough and comprehensive. I also adore the little bits of lore and RC history which are sprinkled throughout, for instance, the part where you wryly remark about intensives - how the earliest attempts to provide thirty hours a week with one counselor had good results for the client but were a bit much on the one counselor. There are also places where your writing just sings, like in section twenty.
I taught the first night of my class on attention away from distress and the understatement. What a thrill it was to set up that tight rig of a technique and watch the light come on in those faces and see the giggles and yawns. I was pleased with myself, too. I seemed to be able to help things along by showing delight in my face, laughing along with the client, etc.
I was also very pleased with my intensive at Personal Counselors last month. It reminded me of my own basic goodness and refreshed me about high-quality counseling.
Dan Alter
Berkeley, California, USA